La Pine throat-slashing victim recalls assault
A 26-year-old La Pine woman was arrested over the weekend on charges she slashed a man’s throat Saturday evening. NewsChannel 21’s Samantha O’Connor spoke with the recovering victim Monday to hear his side of the story.
Heather Lee Chapman was booked into Deschutes County Jail in Bend on charges of attempted murder. Her bail was reduced to $250,000 (from initially $360,000) at her first court appearance Monday, held on attempted murder and assault charges, accused of slashing the throat of a neighbor who she apparently had never met before.
According to the victim, the attack was unprovoked.
Victor Evangelista, 52, said Monday he has lived in La Pine for six years. In recent months, he’s been fixing up a house for his friend on Riverland Avenue.
On Saturday evening, he needed an extra pair of hands, so he went next door to ask his neighbor for help.
“I don’t know how she got involved with the conversation, she was up on the porch,” Evangelista said.
Then the conversation became heated very quickly. The next thing Evangelista knew, Chapman was standing in front of him and yelling.
“I felt a tug at my neck and I went up like this, and I brought my hand down and it was full of blood — and I said, ‘Oh my God, I think you killed me,'” Evangelista said.
Due to shock and confusion, he walked back to his property without calling 911, not knowing the extent of his injuries.
“What the doctor said is that I was a centimeter away from the main vein — that I was a very lucky man,” Evangelista said.
He also told NewsChannel 21 he knows his neighbors well, but not Chapman.
And according to Evangelista, his neighbors have not been home since the incident, but all he wants to know is what happened.
“Have you found out why she did it?” Evangelista asked. “Because I’d like to know.”
Evangelista believes that if someone had not called 911, he thinks he would have bled to death. However, after surgery, he returned home around late Sunday because he couldn’t afford treatment and wanted to go home.
The investigation is still ongoing.
